Catalina launches additional dinghy docks

CATALINA ISLAND – Boaters cruising over to the island need no longer fret over where to dock their vessels with the City Council’s recent approval to purchase material for additional dinghy docks on the piers.

At the April 1 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the item, allowing Harbor Patrol to begin construction of the new floating docks.

More docks mean one thing for boaters: more space for their dinghies.

“The main complaint we have is the dinghy dock space and the loading dock is always used by the Blanche W,” said Harbormaster Brian Bryan. “The idea came up that we can move the Blanche W to another dock and expand the dinghy dock in that area.”

With the cooperation of Discovery Tours, the Blanche W will be relocated from float c further out to the west side of the pier. Harbor Patrol will then move a loading float from the east side of the pier to the west side. The dinghy docks will be moved in the summer to the west side of the pier.

“We are essentially swapping docks,” Bray explained. “We’re just exchanging a dock and making more room for dinghies.”

Regulars to the island understand the difficulties faced when attempting to tie up to a dock during the heavy boating season. Guests usually have several dinghies to cross before stepping on the pier.

Additional dinghy docks will be put into place before summer to allot more tie up space for the busy boating months. Harbor maintenance staff launches a dinghy dock between the yacht club and the Tuna Club in the summer months, and remove the H shaped floats in the winter. It is estimated that the amount of dinghy dock space will jump from 16 boats to 40 once the new docks are launched.

According to a staff report, three additional dinghy docks will be built to be placed in the area of the float on the Pleasure Pier. A sum of $20,000 was transferred within the harbor budget from the engineering services account to the dinghy docks account.
Docks will be constructed by harbor maintenance staff. Construction of the wood and Trex deck docks will begin this month.